Chicago Cab (1998)

You won't be disappointed!

The Worst Film Ever

Pretty Good

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

By coincidence I had, as another viewer suggested, watched this movie late at night (or rather, early morning) on Christmas Eve. It was a strange little independent production, one about a Chicago cab driver's strange passengers in the course of one Christmas night. It somewhat reminds me of the cool cult classic, 'Night on Earth,' which is similarly about cab drivers and their passengers, except in an international focus (with each of the five stories taking place in five different cities) and emphasizing the ironic or humbling differences between the drivers and the passengers they engage in discussion with. This is somewhat similar in that respect, where the cab driver is pitted against some of the strangest passengers who's few moments in his cab generate much anecdote worthy material.There is no main plot. It is just an array of characters passing in and out of scenes and our lone constant is the somewhat frustrated cab driver. The film is a nice distraction, although viewers might find the incessant strange and overly-aggressive nature of several random passengers to be redundant or tedious. But, just like 'Night on Earth' this is probably destined for some measure of cult fame (which is already evident from the comments posted here on IMDb). The sheer outrageousness of the events and some of the conversation are likely to generate some laughs.

This amazing movie uses both humor and drama to keep the viewer interested. Some of the fares the cab driver pick up are just funny, some scary, and some just plain sad. All of them show the range of human emotions and get this cab driver to realize that yeah, life does suck sometimes, hell, most of the time even, but there are some moments that just make you love life for all of the crap it throws at you. It's one part Taxi Cab Confessionals (without all the sleaze) and one part American Beauty, showing you that life has meaning, no matter how small a part you play in it. Watch this movie!!

Though this film may be pretty light on story, it raises some thought-provoking situations and might even make the viewer reflect on their own life for a brief moment just like the main character does in the final scenes. The material is deftly handled and there is a gradually increasing sense of unease throughout the film that something terrible is going to happen sooner or later in the cab. Well, I don't want to spoil it; something does happen, just not exactly what we might have been expecting. An interesting twist to the tale. I must say Paul Dillon was very good. I spent the whole film weighing up his character and trying to decide whether he was a bit slow, extremely reserved, or terminally depressed. In the end not everything is revealed about his character; it's kind of left up to the viewer's interpretation. Nice. He was certainly unlike anyone I've ever known. It's just a pity that some of the episodes in the cab were a bit flat and didn't gel too well with each other. Maybe with a slightly more experienced team behind the scenes, and the same general premise and character arc, this could have been a bigger hit.

This movie was made out of a popular chicago play called "Hellcab." It features a number of cameos, but the actor playing the cabbie in the movie does a fantastic job. There are a nuber of ethical dilemas in the film but they are subtle and believable. The mix of passagers gives the viewer an impression of an authentic view of what a day in a cab is like while it manages to comment on our relationships with each other both personal and as strangers. Very enjoyable film